I think the comments section for videos is in desperate need of an overhaul.

**** If you agree with this post and would like to see Crunchyroll make some of these changes, let's keep this topic relevant and make sure to post a reply that you agree, either in part or in full, and share your suggestions about the comment section as well. ****

So, as it stands, the comments section on videos is not particularly useful.

Here's what I suggest:

1. Change the algorithm for top comments
What I've observed is that the top comments are basically the most recent comments. I remember quite some time ago the top comments were whatever comments had the most thumbs up, so usually once something took top place, you never saw any new comments. What we really need is something in between. There already is an option to see recent comments, but perhaps what could be displayed is a mix of both. You could display posts that have received the most thumbs up within the last day or two (that way old posts that are popular could remain up top), and intermingle it with new posts so they are at least seen.
Alternatively, I think it would be even better to put up "popular" posts beside "new" posts. Instead of a separate drop down, they could be side by side so you can see both. But nobody else has ever done this, I just think it's a good idea. But at the very least, I think "popular" posts should be considered those which have been getting the most attention recently (like the last day or two), so that it can be the newest popular posts, but old good posts won't disappear the moment a few new posts have entered the fray.

2. Add comment reply notifications and a link to the "comments only" pageThis one is a must. 99% of the time people dump a comment or reply to someone's comment, but then you'll never hear back from them again because, let's face it, you aren't rewatching the same video within a day before your post is lost in a sea of new comments. This has rendered comments pretty pointless, because there's really no conversation (and there could be some really good convo going on). When you get a reply on your comment, or when anyone else replies to the same comment thread as you, then you should get a notification (of course, opting out should be added). That way you can go back and join in the conversation. The implication of this is that the comments only page should be linked for each video, so that you don't have to load the video every time you want to go back to the comments, or to have to type in "/comments" in the URL if you're in the know about that. A simple link like "View all comments" could be added to video pages, and whenever you get a notification of a comment reply, it would link you to that section within the comments page, or just isolate that conversation on its own altogether. Either way, it wouldn't reload the video page.

3. The order of replies to a comment should be reversed
It's confusing to read the replies to someone's comment with the conversation going backwards. People at the top are replying to people who wrote something further down. Comment replies should go in order of oldest to newest. As on other websites, to avoid a long string of comments, you could show the 3 or so latest posts, and just above that have a link that says "previous comments", that, when clicked, loads a certain number of the previous comments, kind of like you see on facebook. And if you wanted to show the most popular reply to the comment, then you add a "previous comments" link above, and a "more comments" (or something like that) below.

There actually is a "comments only" page -- but you have to go the video episode page first (or know what that url is) to get to it. Simply type "/comments" at the end of the url when you are on the episode's video page. You don't have to wait for the video to load -- if you type it in the browser immediately after you click to the video page it will go to the comments page before the video loads.

(Since I almost never watch videos on the website (I use a Roku) I have Chrome block Flash on Crunchyroll so that I don't risk having the video start every time I go to the page, which gives me all the time I want to go to the comments page. I do this because a lot of the time the video page doesn't display all the comments--not sure why that happens)

That's good, but they really should have a link to the comments only page. Only the "inside" people would know to type that into the url. Thanks for the info though.

That fact that CR appears reticent to make even relatively easy changes like this makes me wonder if those making requests for more difficult to implement features have any hope of seeing them fulfilled in the next few years.

Keep in mind they've had the bug that inserts an unneeded "$" into any image string for many months now (preventing the image from being displayed unless the person edits it out). Even if they bug was deep in the code and they didn't want to take the time to ferret it out, it shouldn't be that difficult to add a small bit of code at the end of the routine that removes any "$" from the string.

That fact that CR appears reticent to make even relatively easy changes like this makes me wonder if those making requests for more difficult to implement features have any hope of seeing them fulfilled in the next few years

I do kind of wonder about how much Crunchyroll pays attention to these posts. I mean there's so many, it's a lot to moderate, so I can understand. But I do hope at some point in time one of the mods will reply as to which features and feedback they are looking into...

akaldaswrote:
But I do hope at some point in time one of the mods will reply as to which features and feedback they are looking into...

The moderators do not know. We are volunteers who handle basic forum and comment housekeeping, and police user behavior. We sometimes have an opportunity to share our own complaints and wishlists with our on-staff handler, but we don't routinely get info about the status of what features and feedback are getting any attention.

The moderators do not know. We are volunteers who handle basic forum and comment housekeeping, and police user behavior.

Sorry, by moderators I meant more the Crunchyroll staff... not the volunteer mods who are valiantly keeping the forum a respectable place.

I was just thinking, given that this section of the forum is for feedback and suggestions, it really only serves a purpose if the feedback is actually examined. I just wondered about the degree to which that is done. Was kind of hoping a surprise post from a staff member or the website programmer might show up, and I could be like, "yay! you're really listening!"